Bombacaceae
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| Bombacaceae | ||||||||||
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Adansonia – Baobab |
The Bombacaceae is a flowering plant family of tropical trees in the Order Malvales, closely related to the Mallow Family and now usually included within the Malvaceae, the species being distinguishable from those of the Malvaceae only by having smooth pollen and a generally much larger stature. The Family Bombacaceae includes 30 genera with about 250 species of mostly very large trees; for example, Ceiba pentandra can reach a height of 70 m.
Several of the genera are commercially important, producing timber (e.g., the Balsa, Ochroma lagopus), or edible fruit (e.g., the Durian, Durio spp.), or useful fibres (e.g., the Kapok tree, Ceiba pentandra). The Baobabs or "Bottle trees" (Adansonia spp.) are important icons in certain parts of Africa, Australia and Madagascar, noted for their immensely stout trunk development, a mechansm for enhancing water storage.de:Wollbaumgewächse eo:Bombakacoj fr:Bombacaceae pt:Bombacoideae